Both the
Americans and the British had underestimated Japan’s military and they paid the
price. The British also suffered from their ongoing war against Germany and
Italy. They had limited military resources and the choice had been made to
concentrate these in Europe. Thus their forces in the Far East were equipped
with outdated weapons. This is obvious in the case of the RAF, as shown by the
following strength reports:

The types available
were second line aircraft like the Hawker
Audax, Westland Wapiti, Westland Lysander, Vickers Vildebeest and a
handful of relatively modern Curtiss
P-36, Bristol Blenheim, Bristol Beaufort, Lockheed Hudson and Brewster F2A Buffalo.

These forces
were not capable of standing up to the modern Japanese planes, especially the Mitsubishi A6M Zero.